Showing papers in "International Journal of Leadership in Education in 2015"

How Teacher Leaders Influence Others and Understand Their Leadership.

Abstract: This study elaborates the many ways that teachers lead work with colleagues to improve teaching and learning, and their understanding of their work as leadership. Through qualitative case studies of seven Maine schools and a review of the literature, the authors developed a conceptual model, Spheres of Teacher Leadership Action for Learning. They describe the various strategies teachers used to influence colleagues in direct and indirect ways, through formal and informal leadership. The authors discuss the importance of relationships, informal collaboration, trust and collegiality in supporting teachers’ leadership development and school improvement. However, they also found teachers engaging in leadership to build these supportive conditions where they did not exist in schools. Teachers leading school improvement work were reluctant to see themselves as leaders, and rarely referred to themselves or others as ‘leaders’. In fact, they viewed their informal and collaborative work as having greater impact on...

Get off my bus! School leaders, vision work and the elimination of teachers

Abstract: In this paper, we argue that school leaders are removing those who embody or vocalize alternative conceptualizations of educator. It seems as if Collins’ call in his 2001 book Good to Great to get the right people on the bus is being taken very seriously by school leaders seeking to raise standards. This is achieved by eradicating ‘inadequate’ teaching, and implementing the leader’s ‘vision’, which we argue consists in silencing and potentially removing professional voice, knowledge and contributions. We present data from nine headteachers who talk about their vision and vision work, and in deploying Arendtian thinking, we think the unthinkable about how teachers can be rendered disposable and are disposed of. Arendt’s political thinking tools help us to consider how, through routine practices, current models of school leadership enable totalitarian practices to become ordinary.

Conceptions of Early Childhood Leadership: Driving New Professionalism?.

Abstract: This study reports the understandings of leadership held by 351 Victorian early childhood leaders (ECLs). Internationally, ECLs are expected to drive quality improvement through mentoring and modelling: a concept associated with distributive leadership. However, ECLs often move into leadership positions by accident and are ill-prepared for their role. Complicating their difficulties are extant perceptions of leadership: many follow models of leadership that prevent them from re-conceptualizing leadership in a new, socially constructed form. This impacts significantly on their ability to influence quality improvement. In this study, ECLs saw relational aspects of their role as particularly important, and were much less concerned with critiquing current quality praxis. They saw their role as important in supporting the development of high-quality practice identified in the National Quality Standards. The paper contends that ECLs play an important role in developing the profession’s own understandings of qua...

Collaborative leadership development with ICT: experiences from three exemplary schools

Abstract: This study utilized a tool-oriented perspective on the uptake and use of digital technology in three exemplary upper secondary schools, to determine how the school leaders viewed leadership in the development of information and communication technology (ICT)-enriched environments for teaching and learning, and how they utilized technology in their daily leadership practices. The data were obtained from interviews with the school leaders and analyses of school documents and websites. In all three schools, leadership was extended and distributed beyond the work of the principal, taking into account the shared and professional expertise in the leader group and across the staff, and relying on reliable technologies and systemic activities developed over time. The findings confirm previous research underlining the importance of supportive school leadership for the successful implementation of ICT in education. In addition, the study shows that in schools oriented towards Web 2.0 or open collaborative technolog...

Perceptions of school leaders in Nairobi about their leadership preparation and development

Abstract: The paper reports on a study undertaken in Nairobi, Kenya with school leaders. We examined their perceptions of the adequacy of their preparation experiences and what aspects remained problematic. This paper only reports on the survey findings which included rating-type and open-ended responses. Principals conceptualized their apprenticeship/experiential preparation as useful for instructional leadership but reported the desire for formal qualification which would provide them with more credibility for their complex roles. Principals were primarily focused on survival and compliance with ministry expectations related to the managerial aspects of their role. Recommendations include a policy framework for leadership qualifications, competencies, and experience to provide standards and benchmarks designed to increase leader and system credibility.

The Lifecycle of Trust in Educational Leadership: An Ecological Perspective.

Abstract: As establishing and fostering trust are imperative activities for school leaders, cognizance of the fundamental importance of trust is essential for the leader’s moral agency and ethical decision-making. In this article, we use an ecological perspective to uncover the dynamics of the lifecycle of trust as evident from extant literature on leadership in general and educational leadership in particular. Upon describing the role of trust in leadership and moral agency, we outline the importance of trust in school organizations and describe its fragile nature. Furthermore, we review the pertinent literature with respect to lifecycle stages (most often overlapping and without any set boundaries) of establishing, maintaining, sustaining, breaking and restoring trust in educational settings. We conclude that understanding the dynamic nature and ecological lifecycle of trust is an important undertaking for school leaders because they, as moral agents, are called to model and mediate the pervasive trust-related pr...

Basic school leaders in Ghana: how equipped are they?

Abstract: This paper examines the leadership preparedness of institutional-level practice with focus on basic schools in Ghana. The analysis of documents on teacher training curriculum and, one-on-one and focus group interviews with teachers and school leaders revealed that in all the 38 teacher training institutions in Ghana where teachers are prepared for the nation’s basic education system, school leadership is not taught as a full course. Thus, teachers are ill-equipped for leadership positions in basic schools. In addition, the educational system in Ghana does not have a uniform or well-defined criterion for appointing basic school leaders and this creates power struggle and animosity among teachers. The proliferation of private schools and the expansion of public schools from pre-school to the tertiary level are the order of the day in Ghana. Unfortunately, leaders for these institutions are not considered. Nonetheless, it is a truism that many reforms or programmes in education fail for lack of efficient and...

Performing the principal: school leadership, masculinity and emotion

Abstract: In western democracies, the critiques of managerialism in school leadership are increasingly common. Feminist researchers have suggested that this recent orientation fits more easily with traditional male leadership than with that of their female counterparts. However, not all men principals are happy with the managerialist turn either. This study investigated how male primary school principals describe their work and respond to the recent changes. While we acknowledge that female principals are also required to deal with emotional issues, this paper points to the stresses experienced by male principals as a consequence of their being men. From this standpoint, our analysis suggests that gender relations form a particular feature of current leadership issues for male principals and we identify the demands placed on them as a consequence. Using data drawn from a series of recursive interviews with 17 experienced male elementary school principals, we propose that emotional issues are centrally involved in t...

School leadership and capacity building in Kazakhstan

Abstract: The article examines the scope for initiative and independent action that lies with school principals in Kazakhstan, with a particular focus on capacity-building approaches. The study is situated within a large collaborative project between three institutions: the University of Cambridge Faculty of Education, Nazarbayev University Graduate School of Education and Nazarbayev Intellectual Schools (NIS). A mixed-methods research design was used to collect data in 20 schools and 11 other educational organizations in six different geographical locations in Kazakhstan. The findings suggest that capacity-building strategies are necessary if innovations are to be implemented across all schools. The article outlines the challenges involved in making school reform effective and draws on the ‘capital framework’. The conclusion considers the implications for practitioners and policy-makers, and outlines an agenda for further research.

Leadership for Creativity.

Abstract: Educational systems, schools and school leaders are caught in the global crossfire between two sets of political expectations: students’ academic outcomes must be at the top of league tables, and students must acquire excellent innovative and creative competencies. It is timely to reflect on the effect of this dilemma. We need to find out if basic skills and knowledge, needed for the tests, are taught and learned in the same ways as creativity competencies. This encompasses reflections on learning and teaching in our schools. But forming the context for this are the ways education is organized in schools, so there is a need to develop a comprehensive perspective on school development in contemporary societies. Empirical case study data from successful Danish schools is analysed in order to find out if there is any room for manoeuvre among managers and teachers, and thus for constructing school life in ways that support the students in acquiring both democratic and creative competencies and academic compet...

Leading otherwise: using a feminist-poststructuralist and postcolonial lens to create alternative spaces for early childhood educational leaders

Abstract: The recognition of the importance of quality programmes and services for very young children is evident in the political agendas of many countries around the world. This focus has been accompanied by increasing recognition that effective leadership in early childhood programmes makes a positive difference to the outcomes for children, families and communities. Research into early childhood leadership, however, has not kept pace with the changes that are occurring within the field. In this paper, we argue that characteristics of the field including the feminized nature of the field, diverse settings, staffing, policies and purposes of early childhood education require a different conceptual framework than what currently exists. Because we live and work within highly gendered and raced discourses, it is difficult to find a space to reflect on the meaning(s) of leadership for contemporary early childhood educators that is not informed by existing (and often Western masculine) knowledge(s) about who a leader ...

Administering Discipline Differently: A Foucauldian Lens on Restorative School Discipline.

Abstract: Foucauldian theory serves as a natural frame for critiquing school discipline policies, the harsh, punitive policies used to correct misbehaviour in public schools (Devine, 1996).1 School surveilla...

Principals as Leaders of School and Community Revitalization: A Phenomenological Study of Three Urban Schools in Morocco.

Abstract: This article explores leadership of place in the context of three urban middle schools in Morocco. School reform means that principals are changing from agents of authority to leaders with school improvement responsibilities. This shift in mission can be stressful for principals who are called to lead, but are often constrained by bureaucratic and place based challenges. Grounded in Riley’s framework for leadership of place, the article highlights some of the physical, socio-political, emotional and spiritual realities within which urban school principals operate. One conclusion of this study is that in the face of often overwhelming physical and socio-political realities; principals dig deeper into their emotional and spiritual reserves to improve their schools and their students’ lives. Their comments further suggest that the sustainability of their reserves is strained by the lack of adequate resources, training and autonomy to take significant initiatives. Comparing these findings against the backdrop...

Job realities of primary school principals in Greece: similarities and variations in a highly centralized system

Abstract: This study aims at investigating primary school principals’ work on a daily basis in order to understand the ways in which the centralized educational system affects their practices. Four typical cases of principals were selected and asked to keep daily records for a period of four months. Data from logs were complemented with data collected through semi-structured interviews with the principals as well as through discussions with the teaching staff. Results show that the transactional-bureaucratic model in line with the current legislation and administration tradition shapes principals’ activities to a large extent. School administration, school organization and internal relationships are the most important areas of principals’ activities. Educational-pedagogic issues constitute only a marginal area of their activities. The homogenization of principals’ activities is so high that they do not seem to be affected either by school contextual factors or by the individual principals’ personal traits. However,...

System alignment and consensus discourses in reforms: School Effectiveness Frameworks and Instructional Rounds. Philosophical responses with Oakeshott, Mouffe and Rancière

Abstract: Responding to system-wide initiatives in York Region—the Ontario district where I have taught secondary school for 26 years—recurrent emphasis on ‘alignment’ and ‘consensus’ opens to critical inves...

Understanding leadership and change in schools: expansive learning and tensions

Abstract: This study examines the effects of schools’ implementation of a new system for testing on student reading. Data on seven Norwegian primary schools were obtained through participant journals and interviews conducted throughout a period of five years. The analyses draw upon Cultural-Historical Activity Theory, especially the framework for expansive learning and contradictions. The findings reveal several discursive struggles in the interactions between the principals and teachers during the developmental process. The data analysis indicates that the initiatives to implement testing as a collective school practice were underlain by tensions concerning student learning (e.g. individual vs. collective testing), and teachers’ working conditions (e.g. individual vs. collective practice). Even though these tensions are short-term, they are part of a long-term activity and point to the need to address questions of leadership in schools. Revealing such tensions can help leaders defuse such strained conditions and i...

Professional Development: Perceptions of Benefits for Principals.

Abstract: Schools in Abu Dhabi are going through change and reform. Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) has initiated professional development for principals to facilitate change and school improvement. This paper explores principals’ perception on the benefits of professional development received in light of managing school change and reforms. Semi-structured interviews provided data on perceived benefits of professional development, delivered for principals. These benefits are considered essential in enhancing principals’ capabilities to fulfil new task requirements within the context of educational change. Findings shed light on: (a) how these benefits were functionalized in the new school system within the professional standards of principals and (b) areas requiring improvements. Based on the findings, recommendations for further need to maximize the benefits through a reconsideration of the content and process in designing professional development were voiced in a climate which places increasing demands on prin...

Faculty Member Perceptions of Department Head Leadership Effectiveness at a State University in Turkey.

Abstract: This article examined the leadership effectiveness of department heads at a state university in Turkey using a model of leadership effectiveness that includes the use of multiple leadership roles to manage situations arising from internal and external university environments. Leadership effectiveness was measured by surveying 70 faculty members in three social sciences departments using a modified instrument based on the competing values managerial behaviour framework. The instrument also provided scores ranking the use by department heads of various leadership roles, which were categorized into four leadership functions. The top five leadership roles employed by department heads were: facilitator, producer, driver, innovator and mentor. Leadership functions were positively correlated with one another and with leadership effectiveness. Multiple regression analysis showed that the four leadership functions and the gender of survey respondents were significant predictors of leadership effectiveness. The str...

Present but not counted: the tenuous position of academic board chairs within contemporary university governance

Abstract: This article draws on multiple case study research of Australian academic governance to examine the role and place of chairpersons of university academic boards (also known as academic senates or faculty senates) within university executive leadership committees A Bourdieusian analysis of the data suggests that while within the broader university field there had traditionally been an academic governance subfield, executive management has appropriated many of the established academic board tasks for itself It further suggests that the traditional academic governance/management divide may no longer be adequate to represent the intersections which occur in locations such as vice-chancellor’s executive committees where academic leaders and executive leaders mix and in an environment where many university executives were formerly academic leaders themselves The article raises questions about whether this is indicative of future directions for university governance generally and for academic boards specifically

Teachers’ practices: responding to governmentality in accountability testing policy

Abstract: In this article, I offer an examination of findings from a recently completed qualitative study conducted in the south-eastern region of the US. In the study, nine teachers from three different schools representing two different school districts were interviewed twice about how they dealt with their students’ Stanford Achievement Test 10 (SAT 10) data to make instructional decisions. I frame the teachers’ reported practices as responses formed in the context of the governmentality undergirding current accountability testing policy. Using the lens of Foucault’s governmentality , makes it possible to see these ‘data-based’ practices as neither ‘neutral’, nor ‘objective’, but vulnerable to educators’ appropriation of ‘what is sayable and thinkable’ within a local accountability context. Teachers’ responses are seen as primarily shaped in discourses of meritocracy, deficit thinking and teachers’ professional knowledge.

How Do School Leaders Navigate ICT Educational Reform? Policy Learning Narratives from a Singapore Context.

Abstract: The purpose of this research inquiry focuses on how school leaders ‘make sense’ of educational reform in their local contexts. In order to do this, an exploratory qualitative case study of two schools that took part in policy reform initiatives directed at ubiquitous use of information communication and technology (ICT) in the Singapore city–state context is undertaken. Using focus group discussions (FGDs), interviews and observations this inquiry investigates and builds emerging explanations to sense-making experiences of actors in the midst of reforms. Using Bruner’s narrative analysis, findings from this inquiry provide a picture of how school leaders cope in periods of uncertainty. School leaders in the midst of leading-edge reforms in ICT experience shifting identities, emerging roles and ambivalent capacities. This inquiry proposes a policy learning approach for educational leaders facing uncertain futures.

The directive communication of Australian primary school principals

Abstract: Directive communication is a key leadership practise in schools. However, very little direct attention has been given to this important feature of the school communication system. The purpose of the research reported here was to produce a richer description of directive communication in the context of Australian primary schools, and in so doing, explain why it should be considered important leadership practise in schools. Participants were 52 staff members from cross-sectorial schools (government, catholic systemic and independent) across five states and territories of Australia. Data were obtained from interviews conducted face to face and via email. The study found that directive communication by principals: (1) concerned a limited range of topics including policy and procedures, teaching and learning and information about school organization and events, (2) ranged in intensity from guidance to command/control, (3) occurred mainly through face to face and staff meetings and (4) provided staff with infor...

A synthesis of action research on coaching

Abstract: This paper reviews data from 27 final reports of action research projects in the area of instructional coaching undertaken as part of Cycle 4 (2008–2010) of the Alberta Initiative for School Improvement (AISI). AISI was an Alberta government programme that provided funding to every school district to allow teachers to create site-based, action research projects they believed would engender school improvement where they work. Teachers created and directed the research, designed the research methods, collected and analysed data, and reported findings in their own words following completion of the project. This paper reviews those action research projects that focused specifically on instructional coaching. To understand the reports written by teachers, the author examined the following questions: (1) What rationale was used to implement coaching as a strategy to support teacher professional learning? (2) What did the various coaching models look like? (3) What were the overall strengths and challenges of us...

Accolades or achievement? Addressing the unforeseen consequences of therapeutic pedagogy

Abstract: Commentary "We have found little to indicate that indiscriminately promoting self-esteem in today’s children or adults, just for being themselves, offers society any compensatory benefits beyond the seductive pleasure it brings to those engaged in the exercise. (Baumeister, Campbell, Krueger, & Vohs, 2005)" In June this year, Wellesley High School became a focus of attention worldwide, following a graduation speech made by a teacher at the school. Departing from the traditional rhetoric of such ceremonies, English teacher David McCullough told the assembled graduates that they were neither special nor exceptional, but may well believe they were because they had been ‘pampered, cosseted, doted upon, helmeted, and bubble-wrapped, feted and fawned over’, an effect, he argued, of Americans’ ‘love of accolades more than genuine achievement’ (Christakis, 2012, p. 1). This assertion struck a chord not only in his home country, but more widely in the Western world, with many educators, childcare workers and parents experiencing a sense of unease about the extent to which this claim was justifiable, and if so, what sort of corrective might be needed.

Introducing the concept of salutogenesis to school leadership research: problematizing empirical methodologies and findings

Abstract: This paper introduces and explores the concept of ‘salutogenesis’ as a way of interpreting school leadership research and its findings in two significant areas: its effect on student outcomes and the motivation of incumbents. In its original setting, salutogenesis describes an approach that focuses on health, rather than on disease, but regards both as points on the same continuum. ‘Pathogenesis’ is the opposite, more traditional view. The two make very different ab initio assumptions: pathogenesis starts by regarding illness as a departure from the natural state and something to be cured; salutogenesis regards illness as the natural condition, and health as something to be created. In the context of adapting these concepts to schooling, where ‘illness’ can be read as ‘dysfunction’, the latter approach would take the view that schools are inherently imperfect and chaotic places, and that the aim of leadership is therefore to create a more functional state. The pathogenic approach, on the other hand, assum...

Common Pitfalls in the Chief Resident Role: Impact on Effective Leadership Practices.

Abstract: Background: This paper explores the leadership and management needs of medical resident leaders, skills that contribute to the success in their role. The importance of leadership development for physicians is reflected in the specific recommendations in the FMEC-MD and FMEC-PG reports of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada and multiple local, regional and national efforts directed towards residents’ leadership development. The purpose of this study was to identify key areas for programme development in leadership for physicians by examining the common pitfalls that interfere with success in resident leadership roles. Methods: Twenty chief residents (CRs) were asked to enumerate the pitfalls/mistakes they made, which they felt hindered their effectiveness as a leader. Chi-squared analysis was used to examine the frequency of responses within themes developed from content analysis of the data. Results: The pitfalls spanned multiple categories including leadership (31%), management (28%), comm...

Turning towards the novel in a post-planetary moment

Abstract: There was a man and a dog too this time. Two beasts, counting Old Ben, the bear, and two men, counting Boon and Hoggenbeck, in whom some of the same blood ran which ran in Sam Fathers, even though ...